Spring-door closer



Dec. 13, 1927. 1,652,643 G. L. SHERWOOD SPRING DOOR CLOSER Filed Feb.21, 1925 aj ar.

Patented Dec. 13, 1927.

UNITED STATES,v

PATENT OFFICE.

GLENN L. SHERWOOD, OF BUCHANAN, MICHlIGAN, ASSIGNOR F ONE-HALF T0AUGUSTUS F. KLASING,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SPRING-DOOR CLOSER.

The present invention relates to improvements in spring door closers.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a spring door closerwhich will exert its greatest spring tension on the door when the dooris substantially closed. This is a decided advantage over the action ofthe majority of prior spring door closers, in which the pressure appliedto the door diminishes as the door moves to closed position and as thetension of the spring slackens. The result of this diminishing eifortapplied to the door is that frequently the door will not close all theway but will remain slightly This is particularly true with screen doorswhere there. is no latching bolt to hold the screen door closed, and inthe slamming of such a door to closed position it will often rebound andremain slightly ajar.

Another object of my invention is to provide aspring door closer whichwill elfectively close the door without slamming. The slam of a door iscaused. for the most part by the momentum of the door rather than by theactualpull of the spring at the instant of closing. I have reduced themomentum of the door by providing a spring closer which, in the wideopen position of the door, operates through a relatively, ineflicientlength of etiective lever arm through which the spring can exertcomparatively little force on the door; consequently, in the initialpart of its movement towards the closed position, the door receives asmall part of the spring energy and starts towards its closed positionwith a slow motion. As

the door continues to move towards its closed.

position the elfective length of this lever arm decreases so that thespring, therefore, is enabled gradually to apply more effort to thedoor; but before the door has an opportunity to gain any great momentumit has moved to its. closed position. At this time the spring isoperating through the most efii cient length of the lever arm and,consequently, the door is firmly held in its closed position.

A further object of the invention is to attain the foregoing objects ina pull type of spring door closer which is adapted for pulling the doortowards the closing device in moving the door to its closed position. Aspring door closer of this type is frequently the only type which it ispracticable to em ploy in certain situations. WVith an outwardly openingoutside door, a push type of closer must be mounted outside for pushingthe door closed and the unattractive appearance of this closing deviceon the outside of the house or building is objectionable.

A further object of the invention is to provide a spring door closer ofthe above type characterized by a resiliently extensible. connectinglink between the spring urged arm and the door. This resilientlyextensible connecting link permits a greater range of movement of thedoor than would otherwise be possible.

A further object of the invention is to provide simple and inexpensivemeans for adusting the tension of the spring of the door closer. Anotherobject of my invention is to provide a spring door closer which can bedetached almost instantly from its operative position on the door jambwhen the full width of the door Way is desired for moving furniture,etc. through the door way, and can be again very quickly attached.

A further object of my invention is to provide a spring door closer, aconsiderable part of which can be made up from stampings, and which isotherwise simple and inexpensive to constructand very durable inservice.

The invention consists in the novel constructions, arrangements anddevices to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out theabove-stated objects and such other objects as will appear from thefollowing description of certain preferred embodiments illustrated inthe accompanying draw-- ings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of adevice embodying the principles of my invention and before mounting inoperative position on the door jamb;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the device, mounted inoperative position and showing in dotted lines changed positions of thedoor;

Fig. 3 is an elevational View of the unit, viewed from the right in Fig.2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a fragmentary portion of amodified arrangement for mounting the device on the door jamb; and

Figs. 5 and 6 are front elevational and modified em- I the door way 8,being supported on outside hinges 12 which permit the door to swingoutwardly through approximately a full half circle. The spring closingdevice of my invention is arranged to be mounted on the hinge jamb 9 inposition to pull the door towards it to the closed position.

The closingdevice comprises a bracket 14.- formed as a U-shaped sheetmetalstamping consisting of the back wall 1 1 and the two parallel sidearms 1 1*. Pivoted between the side arms 14" is a swinging lever orradius arm 15 which is also preferably constructed as a sheet metalstamping. It consists of the web or back wall 15 and the two laterallybent side walls 15 which preferably taper in width towards the outer endof the lever. This arm or lever is pivoted between the arms 141 of thebracket 14 on a pivot 16 which preferably consists of a short section oftubing passed through aligned apertures in the side arms 1 1 and theswinging arm 15. One end of this tubular pivot is held against axialdisplacement by riveting over the end thereof, as indicated at 17 inFig. 3,*and the other end is held by the adjustable spring tensioningarm 18, which I shall presently describe. 4

7 Coiled about the pivot 16 is a flat spiral spring 19 which has itsinner end til-zed in a slot in the tubular pivot, as indicated at 21 inFig. 2. The outer end of the spring is extended along the inner sideofthe back wall 15 of the arm 15 and is then turned outwardly through aslot 22 in this back wall, thereby securely fastening this end of thespring to the arm 15. It will be noted that this spring is wound torotate the arm 15 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 2.

' As clearly shown in Fig. 1, the side walls 15 of the arm 15 arepunched together, as indicated at 15, to bring the apertures 23 in theseside walls close together for receiving the hook end 24 of thetensionspring 24-. This tension spring functions as a resiliently extensibleconnecting link for connecting the arm 15 to the door 11. Anon-extensible link may be employed where the door has a comparativelylimited angular movement, but where it is intended that the door morethrough approximately 180 it is desirable to employ the spring 241. Thisspring will be subject to very little stretching while the door ismoving to approximately the first dotted line position shown in Fig. 2,but when the door approaches the fully open position, represented by thesecond dotted line position, the spring stretches and accommodates thiscontinued movement.

Y As a. simple method of connecting this link to the door 11 a hook 26may be screwed into the door in appropriate position to receive thislink; although any other connecting means may be employed.

The foregoing unit, consisting of the bracket 14:, arm 15 and link 2%,is adapted for detachable mounting on the jamb 9 through theinstrumentality of the pad or mounting plate 28. This plate is securedfast to the jamb 9 in close proximity to the door 11 by screws2 Alongthe vertical edge adjacent the door the plate is formed with a rightangle flange 31 which forms a. marginal stop 101' we outer-edge of thebracket 1 1:. Along the edge remote from the door the plate is formedwith an inwardly turned or hook flange 32 under with the opposite edgeof the bracket 1 1 is adapted to be inserted. The upper and lower edgesof the plate 28 may be provided with right angle marginal flanges 33 toprevent the bracket from slipping up or down relative to the plate. Inmounting the bracket on this plate the rear edge of the bracket is firstinserted under the inwardly turned flange 32 and then the bracket isswun into position to bring its outer edge against the other flange 31.The hooking of the spring or link 2 1 to the screw 26 places the spring19 under tension, which reacts through the bracket to hold its base wall1 1 pressed tight against the plate, the flange 32 preventing therearedge oi the bracket from being pulled outof the plate as a result ofthis spring tension. lVhen it is desired to remove the door and thespring closing device, as for giving a full width of unobstructed doorway for the moving of furniture, etc, the link 2 1 is merely unhookedfrom the screw hook 26. This removes the tensionalv reaction of thespring from the bracket and enables the bracket to he slipped out of theplate 28 instantly.

For adjusting the tension of the spring 19 I have provider. thearm18which consists or a short length of stilt wire having one end turnablyinserted in openings in the protruding uppereud of the tubu ar pivot 16,the other end of the wire ht ing a laterally depending hook portion 37.which is adapted to be received in a notch 88 cut in the front edge ofthe bracket 14, the extrem- 1ty of said last named end terminating in ahandle portion 37 In adjusting the spring. the hook 37 is disengagedfrom the notch and the wire is then turned substantially 180 on its axisto bring the handle portion 37 into an upwardly extending position; thearm now serves as a crank for turning the pivot member 16 therebyplacing the spring under the desired tension. -When the spring has beenproperly tensioned the arm 18 is iii? turned back on its axis to theposition shown in the drawings. The shape of the arm and the tension ofthe spring are such as to maintain the arm in locked engagement with thebracket.

If desired, thefront side of the bracket 14 may be closed by bending afront wall 39 into the place indicated in Fig. 2, either from one of thearms 14 or from the base portion 14. Similarly, the pivot end of the arm15 may be partially enclosed by forming inwardly extending circularwalls 15 from the side walls 15 around the spring 19.

In the operation of the device, it will be observed from Fig. 2 that asthe door is swung open the spring arm 15 will be revolved around in acounterclockwise direction under the pull of the link 24. As the arm 15moves out away from the jamb it will be seen that the effective leverarm thereof continuously increases. This lever arm or radius arm ismeasured as a line perpendicular to the link 24 passing through thecenter of the pivot 16. Vhen the door is in closed position this radiusarm is very short, as will be noted from Fig, 2. \Vhen the door has beenmoved to open position the spring arm 15 lies in a position incontinuation of the bracket 14 or in a position in front of the bracket,and at such time this effective radius arm from the link to the pivotis. at its maximum length. Consequently, when the door starts to close,the spring 19 must exert its pulling eflort on the door through thisrelatively long radius arm. As a result the door starts to close with aslow even motion. The radius arm continuously increases with the closingmovement of the door but no strong pull is exerted on the door until thedoor is practically closed and consequently the door does not have anopportunity to gain sufficient momentum to slam. lVhen closed, however,the relatively short length of radius arm enables the spring to exertits maximum pull on the door, thus holding it firmly in latched orclosed position and preventing any rebound.

The adjustability of the spring tension atforded by the adjusting arm 18enables the device to be readily. adapted to any weight of door, so thatin all ins ances the door will have a slow even closing motion. Owing tothe long length of the spring 19 relative to its deflection in theopening and closing movements of the door, the tension of the springdoes not change materially between the different positions of the door.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4 the mounting plate is adapted to besecured in place over the door stop or jamb member 41 by screws 42 and42. The plate 40 is provided with a tail portion 40 which serves as aspacer between the door frame and the plate 40. Initially the portion 4Ois placed at such an angle that it will accommodate stop or j ambmembers 41 of the maximum thickness. Should any particular jamb memberbe relatively thin the driving of the screw 42 to aid in bringing themain. portion-of the plate 40 against the face of the jamb will forcethe portion 40 to straighten out to the necessary extent. Thisarrangement is easy to install on any ordi nary jamb, no cutting away ofthe jamb or bending of the plate with a hammer or other tool beingrequired. The struck out hook portions 4O serve to engage the edge ofthe web portion 14 of the bracket in the same manner as the hook portion32 heretofore described.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown another form of my invention embodied inor associated with the hinge of the door. The hinge comprises therelatively long leaf 43, which is adapted to be screwed to the door, andthe relatively short leaf 44 which is secured to the door frame.These't-wo hinge leaves have the usual pintle sockets 45 for receivingthe pintle 46, which in this instance is removable for ready removal ofthe door.

Projecting from the front of the leaf 43 is a ribbed arm 47 having abackwardly turned flange 48 which forms a socket 4!). A similar socket50 is formed at the edgeof the other hingeleaf by a curved flange 51.

Sprung between these two sockets is a spring toggle mechanism 52comprising the two U-shaped links 53 and 54. These links have eyesformed at their adjacent ends through which passes a pivot member 55. Ahelical spring 56 surrounds this pivot member and has its respectiveends hooked over the sides of the two U-shaped links. This spring togglemechanism is preferably releasable from one or both hinge leaves; in theconstruction shown link 54 being permanently secured in the socket 50,and the link 53 being releasably snapped into the other socket 48.Thispermits the toggle unit to be snapped into position after the hingeleaves have .been secured to the door and door frame and also permitsready disassembling of the hinge when it is desired to remove the door.By making the toggle unit releasablefrom both leaves, toggle unitshaving different weights of springs may be substituted for doors ofdifferent sizes.

As viewed in Fig. 6, the direction of action of the spring 56 is such asto tend to fold the two links 53 and 54 together in a direction awayfrom the hinge pivot 46. In the closed position of the door the twolinks lie at a slight angle to each other so that as the door is openedthe toggle joint breaks outwardly, which is contrary to the direction ofaction of the spring. Hence, as the door is opened a greater tensionwill be given the spring and when the door is re- Jan leased this springtension, tending to fold the two toggle links in the other direction,

will operate to swing the door back to closed position. i

I do not intend to limit my invention to the details of constructionshown and described, except only in so far as certain of the appendedclaims are specifically so limited, as it will be obvious thatmodifications may be made without departing from the principles of myinvention.

I claim:

1. In a spring door closer, the combination of a bracket comprising aback wall and two spaced. arms extending therefrom, a pivot extendingbetween said arms, a lever comprising a web portion and two lateral sions, a spring coiled about said pivot be said side portions, one end ofsaid spring being connected to said pivot and the other end to saidlever, a spring adjusting arm connected to said pivot for rotating it totighten the spring and adapted to be ro tated into position to engagethe bracket for holding the spring in tightened condition, and a linkpivotally connected to said lever and adapted to be attached to thedoor.

2. In a spring door closer, the combination of a stamped metal bracketcomprising a back wall and substantially parallel arms extendingtherefrom, a pivot extended between said arms, a lever journalled onsaid pivot between said arms comprising a web portion and two laterallyturned side portions, a spiral ribbon spring coiled on said pivotbetween said side portions, and a helical spring having its endspivotally. connected to said lever and adapted to effect attachment tothe door.

3.'A spring door closer, comprising in combination a mounting member forthe face of a door jamb adjacent to the inner face of a door, a bracket,means on the mounting member for holding the bracket when given 7 aswinging movement toward the door into position, an armswingingivmounted on said bracket, a spring adapted normally to swingthe arm in the direction corresponding to the closing movement of thedoor, and. connections between said arm and said door where-' by poweris normally applied to the door for closing it and the bracket ispressed toward the door for holding it in operative position on themounting member.

4:. A spring door closer, comprising in combination a bracket, meansadapted to grip said bracket and to hold it in operative position whenswung in one direction, and

yielding means having an effective bearing on said bracket and said doortending normally to hold the door closed and to hold the bracket fromswinging in the direction for release from operative position.

5. A spring door closer, comprising in combination a bracket, meansadapted to grip said bracket and to hold it in operative position on adoor jainb when the bracket is swung toward the door, and a springhaving an effective bearing on said bracket and said door tending toswing them toward each other and serving to hold the bracket inoperative position and to hold the door yieldingly closed.

A spring door closer, comprising in combination a mounting plate for thedoor jamb having a shoulder at the side thereof disposed toward the doorand a hook at the side thereof disposed away from the jamb, a bracketinsertable into engagement with the mounting plate by a swingingmovement toward the door and held by such engagement against furtherswinging movement toard'the door, and yielding means having an effectivebearing on said bracket and said door tending normally to hold the doorclosed and to hold the bracket from swinging in the direction forrelease from said mounting plate.

7. A spring door closer, comprising in combination a mounting plate forthe door jamb having a shoulder at the side thereof disposed toward thedoor and a hook at the side thereof disposed away from the door, abracket insertable into engagement with the mounting plate by a swingingmovement toward the door and held by such engagement against furtherswinging movement toward the door, a lever swingingly mounted on saidbracket, a spring bearing on said bracket and said lever tending to holdthe lever swung in the direction away from the door, and connectionsbetween the lever and the door serving to apply the spring pressure forholding the door yieldingly closed and for holding the bracket fromswinging in the direction for release from the mounting plate.

' GLENN L. SHERWOOD.

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